September 11, 2008

The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) is urging the federal government to expand the sow-culling programme to include more slaughtered animals retroactively.

CPC president Jurgen Preugschas said because many producers had already culled a portion or all of their sows before the programme's November 1 cut off, CPC has requested agriculture minister Gerry Ritz to extend the date to August 1 to allow those producers who had start culling animals earlier to be part of the programme.

Preugschas said the minister's response has been positive but the cabinet needs to give the matter a final approval.

The nationwide culling programme was officially launched in mid-April, offering to pay US$209 per animal culled to Canadian hog producers who agreed to depopulate breeding barns and leave them empty of breeding stock for at least three years.

The programme aims to reduce the Canadian breeding herd in order to balance supply with demand and to improve prices. The programme also allowed producers who had decided to leave the industry to do so with a certain amount of equity.